CARROLL: Everyday people
By Vincent Carroll, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published April 9, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
Wendy Chamberlin
What would we do without well-traveled sophisticates to break shocking news to the grubby American heartland, such as the fact that people around the world are - better steel yourself, buster - just like us?
In other words, what would we do without the likes of Wendy Chamberlin, the latest in a long line of observers to rap the knuckles of Americans who associate Muslims with terrorism?
"What are Muslims like?" Chamberlin asked during her keynote address to the University of Colorado's World Affairs conference Monday. "They're like most Americans. They're family people. They practice their faith. Most are young. They want better education. They want jobs. The polls show the majority want to improve law and order and they want to promote democratic ideals in their own political systems."
Did Chamberlin also mention that Muslims shower, chew before swallowing and put on their pants one leg at a time? Why, word has it that Muslims aren't only like most Americans. Millions are Americans. She could look it up.
Chamberlin, who heads the Middle East Institute in Washington, is distressed that more than 40 percent of Americans link Islam with terrorism. She believes the figure should be much lower, although the wonder is that it isn't higher. She thinks this association could be broken if Americans realized that only a small minority of Muslims support terrorism, when that fact is only slightly relevant.
If someone told you there had been a spate of violent robberies on the 16th Street Mall, would it be fair for you to assume that males had been responsible? Of course it would, even though you realize that most men detest violent crime and some women commit robberies, too.
For similar reasons, if someone told you that a suicide bomber just blew himself up along with 30 customers in a London bank lobby, it would be reasonable for you to strongly suspect that the terrorist was Muslim.
It would be reasonable, moreover, even if you readily agreed, as I do, that most Muslims are like most people everywhere and want nothing more than lives of peace.
He's a senator?
Sen. Jay Rocke- feller has publicly apologized, with the usual extravagance, for trashing John McCain's war record by implying that dropping "laser- guided missiles from 35,000 feet" is an activity for indifferent cowards. McCain "was long gone when they [the missiles] hit," Rockefeller said. "What happened when they get to the ground? He doesn't know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues."
As shocking as Rockefeller's comments were, however, they weren't the stupidest thing he said in his interview Monday with the Charleston Gazette in the Democrat's home state of West Virginia. The stupidest thing, which provoked no controversy whatever, was his riff on global warming.
"We have 25 to 30 years to turn this country around," Rockefeller solemnly predicted. "Climate change is going faster and faster. We will not be around in 2050 unless we change."
Suffice it to say that no forecast of global warming predicts a climate Armageddon in 42 years. This is nitwit fearmongering and nothing more.
Despite his apparently contemptuous view of fighter pilots and his Chicken Little attitude toward climate change, Rocke- feller serves as chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence as well as on the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. But in the interest of restful sleep, it's best to put those unfortunate facts out of your mind.
Vincent Carroll is editor of the editorial pages. Reach him at carrollv@RockyMountainNews.com.
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April 9, 2008
7:12 a.m.
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VVVV writes:
Jay seems to have forgotten that the missles were also going the other direction.
April 9, 2008
7:55 a.m.
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CO_Native_CO writes:
Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence??? WHAT "intelligence"... Idiot!
April 9, 2008
8:23 a.m.
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pak writes:
Moron Ted Turner says there will be rampant cannabalism in 25 years. So in 50 years, there will be nobody left!
April 9, 2008
8:43 a.m.
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Spencer writes:
According to Bill O'Reilly, black people in Harlem are just like normal citizens. According to Bill, "There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, 'M-Fer, I want more iced tea.' " I wonder why Vince didn't write a column.
April 9, 2008
9:15 a.m.
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jay writes:
"For similar reasons, if someone told you that a suicide bomber just blew himself up along with 30 customers in a London bank lobby, it would be reasonable for you to strongly suspect that the terrorist was Muslim."
For similar reasons, if someone told you that a person had just blew up an abortion clinic, or shot a doctor or beaten a gay person do death, it would be reasonable for you to strongly suspect that the terrorist was Christian.
See how easy it is to blow Campos prejudices apart?
Just as most Christians wouldn't agree with painting their entire religion with brush reserved for the fundamentalists in their ranks, we should make the far right wing mistake of believing that all muslims are represented by the actions of a fundamentalist few.
April 9, 2008
9:26 a.m.
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JYP3500 writes:
Wendy Chamberlain is just another one of your typical non-profit, blame-America-first buffoons.
It appears to me that 100% of terrorists who indiscriminately kill innocent & defenseless people are Muslims. But clearly not 100% of all Muslims are terrorists. So why haven’t the “peaceful” Muslims come forward in mass, and publicly denounced and demanded their brothers & sister stop killing people in the name is Islam? Until they do, unfortunately, all Muslims will be suspect.
And if people like Wendy were honest (instead of trying to make money speaking at liberal colleges), they would be asking the same questions.
April 9, 2008
9:42 a.m.
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jay writes:
muslim leaders have come forward and denounced the actions of the religious fundamentalist few...just like reponsible christian leaders have come forward and denounced the actions of the christian terrorists (they're not all muslim after all), jyp.
April 9, 2008
11:04 a.m.
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Spencer writes:
was Timothy McVeigh a Muslim?
April 9, 2008
11:33 a.m.
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peterpi writes:
jay @ 9:16. If you don't like Campos, there's nothing anybody can do about that, but to blame Campos for something Vincent Carroll said takes things a bit far. Paul Campos can't do anything about Vincent Carroll's thinking.
April 9, 2008
11:52 a.m.
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jay writes:
lol...quite right...it was Carrol whose argument was nonsensical and so easy to pull apart...not Campos.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24014376/
yet another reason why you can't paint an entire religion with the brush reserved for the fundamentalists in their ranks
April 9, 2008
1:48 p.m.
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enginerd writes:
jay,
How many Muslim leaders have come forward and denounced the violent actions of the few? Two or three? The vast majority are silent, and silence implies tacit approval or at least acceptance. Until there is an outcry against violence by Muslims themselves, most people will continue to associate Islam with terrorism, even though only a small number of fanatics are actively engaged in it.
April 9, 2008
1:57 p.m.
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jay writes:
again...muslim leaders the world over have denounced the violence a few of the fundamentalists in their ranks are perpetrating. just because it is a fact that is politically inconvenivent for your world view doesn't make it any less of a fact.
April 9, 2008
2:40 p.m.
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JYP3500 writes:
jay....Muslim leaders need to do more than just issue statements that denounce violence. They need to stop the violence. They can do this by telling their flock that anyone who takes their own life (and innocent/defensless people around them) will burn in Islam Hell, and not be rewarded with 100 virgins.
April 9, 2008
2:55 p.m.
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jay writes:
maybe the christian leaders could tell their flock that their skydaddy won't party with their ghosts if they kill abortion doctors or gay people...see how easy it is to turn this around?
the point is that muslim leaders ARE denouncing this violence...as they should.
so no...you can't blame the muslim world for the actions of a few...just like you can't blame the christian world for the actions of some of their own fundamentalists.
anything else is hypocrisy at its finest.
April 10, 2008
8:37 a.m.
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Spencer writes:
Religious fanatacism is not exclusive to any one religion. You might not get that point from someone who writes books about the so-called bigotry against Christians.
April 10, 2008
11:07 a.m.
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rjnova writes:
JYP3500 you said everything I wanted to say about the defening silence from muslims about terrorists, and probably said it better. Right on.
April 10, 2008
11:25 a.m.
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jay writes:
rjnova...you are apparently suffering from the same type of willful ignorance that has hindered the world viewpoints of many on the far right...including jyp.
April 10, 2008
11:39 a.m.
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rjnova writes:
You are right on the money Vince. Rockefeller as head of an Intelligence Committee is an oxymoron to be sure. It shows that wealth buys little intelligence. Ted Turner, Rockefeller, Madonna, Jane Fonda, Fat Rosie, el al think outrageous comments somehow equates to intellect. Indeed, it does the very opposite. Every time they open their mouths it dispels all doubt they measure up to even a college freshman. They all, if educated at all, have been educated beyond their intelligence.
April 10, 2008
11:40 a.m.
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rjnova writes:
so's your old lady jay bird.
April 10, 2008
12:32 p.m.
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p_myers661 writes:
Jay Rockefeller is an idiot. Vince called it. Many of the comments he made in that one interview proved it. We can just get busy having fun with this stupidity. I'm going to hope some young person makes a yearly update of how the "calamity" is proceeding. It will also make things interesting in fifty years when there is no disaster. I'll bet that Jay is a Republican too. His family was in the same mold as McCain with disdain for conservatives who don't belong to country clubs. See. it isn't just the liberal loonies that support Climate Change.
BTW nice name change. Now it can go either way and the name fits. Even when nothing happens, the name is safe. It might be a good idea to post reminders that every December it gets cold in most of the United States while in June and July it gets hot. It happens and there is nothing we can do to change it. If a volcano puts out enough junk, like Krakatoa did, there might be a year without summer so the immediate panic would be cooling.
April 10, 2008
12:43 p.m.
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arby writes:
The fact remains that while Christians have committed acts of terrorism. Northern Ireland comes to mind. OK comes to mind. They were not supported by their church or country. This cannot be said for the Muslim terrorist. Saudi Arabia, Syria and Lebanon support these people. If by no other means than by not cutting off the money. Saudi Arabia is the worst offender and the homeland of most of the 911 killers and Osama. The country is a fundamenalist theocracy and the US puts up with their racist, religious ideas because we want their oil and don't want to dig ours up and refine it ourselves. Until "we the people" demand responsible leadership "we the people" are going to get business as usual. End of story.
April 10, 2008
3:44 p.m.
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jay writes:
"They were not supported by their church or country."
are you kidding?
the families of dead abortion doctors everywhere might disagree with you
April 10, 2008
7:43 p.m.
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arby writes:
jay
I don't recall any Christian church encouraging or financing the murder of abortion Drs. or the blowing up of their clinics. Yes some fundamentalist preachers went of rants against abortion as did our President. And yes they have tried to outlaw it. But I know of no organized Christian church that advocated murder. That can't be said for the Muslims.
April 10, 2008
9:30 p.m.
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jay writes:
arby...some christian fundamentalist leaders have long preached violence against what they perceived as the "murder" of babies. eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.
again people...there is no difference between muslim fundies and christian fundies who resort to violence to further their causes.
implication of anything else is a perfect example of hypocrisy at its finest.
April 10, 2008
10:35 p.m.
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Achilles writes:
"maybe the christian leaders could tell their flock that their skydaddy won't party with their ghosts if they kill abortion doctors or gay people...see how easy it is to turn this around?" - jay
jay, could you tell us all how many abortion doctors were killed in 2007? 2006? Are you actually saying worldwide Muslim terrorism is as rampant as supposed Christian abortion doctor killings? It is absolutely amazing how the same liberals who despise religion will defend Islam.
April 10, 2008
10:46 p.m.
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Achilles writes:
"Religious fanatacism is not exclusive to any one religion." - Spencer
Nor is murder exclusive to any one race. Yet, one race seems to murder a lot more than any other race.
There is no wisdom on the left.
April 10, 2008
10:49 p.m.
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Achilles writes:
"was Timothy McVeigh a Muslim?" - Spencer
No. Therefore what?